Application of passive seismic to the detection of buried hollows

Pilot studies involving the use of passive seismic techniques in a range of geological settings and applications, e.g., mapping bedrock, studies of soil erosion and Quaternary mapping have shown that it is a versatile, non-invasive and economic technique. This paper presents the findings of three case studies that trialled the use of passive seismic techniques for the detection and characterisation of buried hollows in carbonate rocks, comprising: i) a buried hollow in the Cretaceous Chalk at Ashford Hill in the Kennet Valley, a tributary of the River Thames, UK; ii) buried karst in the foundation excavations for wind turbines in Carboniferous Limestone at Brassington, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, UK, and iii) defining the extent of solution hollows that host terrestrial Miocene deposits, near Friden, Newhaven, Derbyshire, UK. Whilst case studies ii) and iii) are focused on areas of buried dolines, the geological context of the Ashford Hill site is more complex; comprising a deformation hollow with an uplifted “pinnacle” of chalk bedrock at the centre. The data were collected using a (Tromino), a three-component, broadband seismometer to measure background ambient noise (microtremors induced by wind, ocean waves, industrial machinery, road and rail traffic, etc.). The Tromino is small, portable with an operating range of 0.1 Hz to 1,024 Hz and interpreted using proprietary software (Grilla), which subjects the data to Fourier transformation and smoothing. Where possible, estimated shear wave velocities used in the Grilla Software modelling, based on peaks identified on the H/V spectrum, have been calibrated using borehole data or parallel geophysical techniques. In each case, the karst features were defined by Nakamura’s horizontal to vertical (H/V) spectral ratio technique, where microtremors are converted to show impedance contrasts (velocity x density), or a pseudo layered seismic stratigraphy of the near surface along each profile. An additional benefit of the use of this technique is its depth of penetration and potential for defining the structural and lithological context of the hollows, thereby contributing to the process understanding associated with their formation. To this end the technique has helped define discontinuity (fault, joint or bedding) guidance of the hollows.S. Castellaro, Mrs J. Renwick, West Coast Energy Ltd (GDF Suez), Mr Roger Durrant (Raymond Brown Construction Ltd

One-by-one trap activation in silicon nanowire transistors

Flicker or 1/f noise in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) has been identified as the main source of noise at low frequency. It often originates from an ensemble of a huge number of charges trapping and detrapping. However, a deviation from the well-known model of 1/f noise is observed for nanoscale MOSFETs and a new model is required. Here, we report the observation of one-by-one trap activation controlled by the gate voltage in a nanowire MOSFET and we propose a new low-frequency-noise theory for nanoscale FETs. We demonstrate that the Coulomb repulsion between electronically charged trap sites avoids the activation of several traps simultaneously. This effect induces a noise reduction by more than one order of magnitude. It decreases when increasing the electron density in the channel due to the electrical screening of traps. These findings are technologically useful for any FETs with a short and narrow channel.Comment: One file with paper and supplementary informatio

A search for heavy Kaluza-Klein electroweak gauge bosons at the LHC

The feasibility for the observation of a certain leptonic Kaluza-Klein (KK) hard process in {\em pp} interactions at the LHC is presented. Within the $S^1/Z_2$ TeV$^{-1}$ extra dimensional theoretical framework with the focus on the KK excitations of the Standard Model $\gamma$ and $Z^0$ gauge bosons, the hard-process, $f\bar f \to \sum_n\left(\gamma^*/Z^*\right)_n \to F \bar F$, has been used where $f$ is the initial state parton, $F$ the final state lepton and $\left(\gamma^*/Z^*\right)_{n}$ is the $n^{\rm th}$ KK excitation of the $\gamma/Z^0$ boson. For this study the analytic form for the hard process cross section has been independently calculated by the authors and has been implemented using the {\sc Moses} framework. The Moses framework itself, that has been written by the authors, was used as an external process within the {\sc Pythia} Monte Carlo generator which provides the phase space generation for the final state leptons and partons from the initial state hadrons, and the simulation of initial and final state radiation and hadronization. A brief discussion of the possibility for observing and identifying the unique signature of the KK signal given the current LHC program is also presented.Comment: 16 pages 10 figures, MCnet number: MCnet/10/06, Accepted by JHE

A multi-phenotypic imaging screen to identify bacterial effectors by exogenous expression in a HeLa cell line

We present a high-content screen (HCS) for the simultaneous analysis of multiple phenotypes in HeLa cells expressing an autophagy reporter (mcherry-LC3) and one of 209 GFP-fused proteins from the Crohn’s Disease (CD)-associated bacterium, Adherent Invasive E. coli (AIEC) strain LF82. Using automated confocal microscopy and image analysis (CellProfiler), we localised GFP fusions within cells, and monitored their effects upon autophagy (an important innate cellular defence mechanism), cellular and nuclear morphology, and the actin cytoskeleton. This data will provide an atlas for the localisation of 209 AIEC proteins within human cells, as well as a dataset to analyse their effects upon many aspects of host cell morphology. We also describe an open-source, automated, image-analysis workflow to identify bacterial effectors and their roles via the perturbations induced in reporter cell lines when candidate effectors are exogenously expressed

A Learning Management System-Based Early Warning System for Academic Advising in Undergraduate Engineering

This chapter describes a design-based research project that developed an early warning system for an undergraduate engineering mentoring program. Using near real-time data from a university’s learning management system, we provided academic advisors with timely and targeted data on students’ academic progress. We discuss the development of the early warning system and detail how academic advisors used it. Our findings point to the value of providing academic advisors with performance data that can be used to direct students to appropriate sources of support.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107974/1/Krumm_etal_2014_LA.pd

British HIV Association guidelines for the management of tuberculosis in adults living with HIV 2019

The overall purpose of these guidelines is to help physicians manage adults with tuberculosis (TB)/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co‐infection. Recommendations for the treatment of TB in HIV‐positive adults are similar to those in HIV‐negative adults. Of note, the term “HIV” refers to HIV‐1 throughout these guidelines

An exploratory cluster randomised trial of a university halls of residence based social norms marketing campaign to reduce alcohol consumption among 1st year students

<p>Aims: This exploratory trial examines the feasibility of implementing a social norms marketing campaign to reduce student drinking in universities in Wales, and evaluating it using cluster randomised trial methodology.</p> <p>Methods: Fifty residence halls in 4 universities in Wales were randomly assigned to intervention or control arms. Web and paper surveys were distributed to students within these halls (n = 3800), assessing exposure/contamination, recall of and evaluative responses to intervention messages, perceived drinking norms and personal drinking behaviour. Measures included the Drinking Norms Rating Form, the Daily Drinking Questionnaire and AUDIT-C.</p> <p>Results: A response rate of 15% (n = 554) was achieved, varying substantially between sites. Intervention posters were seen by 80% and 43% of students in intervention and control halls respectively, with most remaining materials seen by a minority in both groups. Intervention messages were rated as credible and relevant by little more than half of students, though fewer felt they would influence their behaviour, with lighter drinkers more likely to perceive messages as credible. No differences in perceived norms were observed between intervention and control groups. Students reporting having seen intervention materials reported lower descriptive and injunctive norms than those who did not.</p> <p>Conclusions: Attention is needed to enhancing exposure, credibility and perceived relevance of intervention messages, particularly among heavier drinkers, before definitive evaluation can be recommended. A definitive evaluation would need to consider how it would achieve sufficient response rates, whilst hall-level cluster randomisation appears subject to a significant degree of contamination.</p&gt

Central adjudication of serious adverse events did not affect trial's safety results: Data from the Efficacy of Nitric Oxide in Stroke (ENOS) trial

Background and purpose Central adjudication of serious adverse events (SAEs) can be undertaken in clinical trials, especially for open-label studies where outcome assessment may be at risk of bias. This study explored the effect of central adjudication of SAEs on the safety results of the Efficacy of Nitric Oxide in Stroke (ENOS) Trial. Methods ENOS assigned patients with acute stroke at random to receive either transdermal glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) or no GTN and to Stop or Continue previous antihypertensive treatment. SAEs were reported by local investigators who were not blinded to treatment allocation. Central adjudicators, blinded to treatment allocation, reviewed the investigators reports and used evidence available to confirm or re-categorise the classification of event, likely causality, diagnosis and expectedness of event. Results Of 4011 patients enrolled in ENOS, 1473 SAEs were reported by local investigators; this was reduced to 1444 after the review by adjudicators, with 29 re-classified as not an SAE. There was fair agreement between investigators and adjudicators regarding likely causality, with 808 agreements and 644 disagreements (56% crude agreement, weighted kappa, κ = 0.31). Agreement increased upon dichotomisation of the causality categories, with 1432 agreements and 20 disagreements (99% crude agreement, kappa = 0.54). Repeating the main trial safety analysis with investigator reported events showed that adjudication had no effect on the main trial safety conclusions. Conclusions In a large trial, with many SAEs reported, central adjudication of these events did not affect trial conclusions. This suggests that adjudication of SAEs in a clinical trial where the intervention already has a well-established safety profile may not be necessary. Potential efficiency savings (financial, logistical) can be made through not adjudicating SAEs

A mathematical modelling tool for predicting survival of individual patients following resection of glioblastoma: a proof of principle

The prediction of the outcome of individual patients with glioblastoma would be of great significance for monitoring responses to therapy. We hypothesise that, although a large number of genetic-metabolic abnormalities occur upstream, there are two ‘final common pathways' dominating glioblastoma growth – net rates of proliferation (ρ) and dispersal (D). These rates can be estimated from features of pretreatment MR images and can be applied in a mathematical model to predict tumour growth, impact of extent of tumour resection and patient survival. Only the pre-operative gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted (T1-Gd) and T2-weighted (T2) volume data from 70 patients with previously untreated glioblastoma were used to derive a ratio D/ρ for each patient. We developed a ‘virtual control' for each patient with the same size tumour at the time of diagnosis, the same ratio of net invasion to proliferation (D/ρ) and the same extent of resection. The median durations of survival and the shapes of the survival curves of actual and ‘virtual' patients subjected to biopsy or subtotal resection (STR) superimpose exactly. For those actually receiving gross total resection (GTR), as shown by post-operative CT, the actual survival curve lies between the ‘virtual' results predicted for 100 and 125% resection of the T1-Gd volume. The concordance between predicted (virtual) and actual survivals suggests that the mathematical model is realistic enough to allow precise definition of the effectiveness of individualised treatments and their site(s) of action on proliferation (ρ) and/or dispersal (D) of the tumour cells without knowledge of any other clinical or pathological information